comment The CE mark
A new EU campaign has been launched to raise the profile of CE marking – something that businesses placing electrical goods on the EU market have been required to add to their products for many years. Alex Martin, Technical Officer at AMDEA, considers the aims of the campaign.
F
inding the letters ‘CE’ on electrical goods is nothing new to electrical retailers. Unlike crossed-out wheelie bins and various other new symbols that are now being affixed to products, the CE marking has been around for a long time – approximately 20 years. And while a modest two letter symbol it may be, it is emblematic of a significant European achievement: the creation of the Single Market. It may strike you as odd, therefore, that an EU-wide campaign has recently been launched to raise awareness of it.
The history
CE marking was conceived as part of the ‘New Approach’ to product regulation that was developed to help the then European Economic Community ensure a free movement of goods between member states as part of its drive to establish the Single Market in 1992. This was no mean feat and remains central to the functioning of the European Union today.
The New Approach provided a
regulatory solution to what was recognised as an obstacle to the Single Market in the early-to-mid 1980s: differences in national product laws and standards that posed technical barriers to trade. The New Approach laid down a number of principles to overcome these obstacles. Perhaps most important of all was the principle that the legislation falling under its framework should not be overly prescriptive. Rather, it should set ‘essential requirements’ in relation to particular issues or specific categories of product. Technical specifications to meet
The campaign
June of this year saw the European Commission embark on a big publicity campaign to raise awareness of CE marking. Mainly directed at businesses that place products on the EU market, one of the key aims of the campaign is to clarify when CE marking is required. This seems to reflect a concern among EU policy-makers that the marking is increasingly added to products that do not require it. In some cases this appears to have arisen out of ignorance, but in others it looks as if it is being used as a
16 The Independent Electrical Retailer August 2010
“The affixing of the CE marking to products
indicates that the products comply with essential
requirements and that they have been subject to relevant conformity assessment procedures”
these requirements would then be documented in ‘harmonised standards’, which were to be prepared by the appropriate European Standards Organisation – CEN, CENELEC or ETSI – upon receiving a mandate. Following this, those placing affected products on the market could presume compliance with the essential requirements provided they adhered to the harmonised standards. The New Approach, however, also required them to subject their products to conformity assessment procedures and this is where the CE marking comes in.
The meaning Where New Approach Directives require it, the affixing of the CE marking to products indicates that the products comply with essential requirements and that they have been subject to relevant conformity assessment procedures (eg a test by a third party). Consistent with this, the letters CE stand for ‘Conformité Européenne’ or ‘conforms to EC Directives’.
way of gaining market advantage – on the basis that it could be perceived as a mark of quality, which it is not. In addition to this is the mistaken belief that ‘CE’ stands for ‘China Export’, something that has been partly fuelled by the appearance of a CE marking with different proportions to those required under New Approach legislation on products exported from the Chinese mainland. Another reason for the campaign is the fact that the New Approach has recently been overhauled, with its revised name being the New Legislative Framework.
The campaign is being run across EU member states and will include Commission representation at trade fairs and exhibitions. While a laudable effort in light of recent changes and confusion over what the marking means, one cannot help but feel it a little late in coming. Nevertheless the marking is emblematic of a major European success story. Yet it is a shame that the public does not know that it stands for this already. ■
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